Casual Friday, 5/6/2022

It's Friday! You know what that means. No? That's okay, this is the first time we've done a Friday blog. I thought about waiting until the early Rampage show this week, but I prefer waiting until the next day to write a show up, so it has a little time to marinate.

I don't really keep up with Impact or New Japan, the two shows that are available on Thursdays through my cable package. While I know there's a lot more wrestling I could be watching, I also enjoy some other stuff and want to remain married, and I can't imagine the ever patient Mrs. Pequeño going in for much more than the 8-12 hours of programming we already watch. 

I think we'll try doing a recap of the week. It opens a window into what I think are some interesting stories or matches to catch up on. If nothing else, it's probably a good place for a new reader to see if they like my opinions, or the way I write. I know you have a bevy of options for wrestling content out there on the internet; I'm thankful you chose to fly with Let's Watch Some Wrestling with Oso Pequeño. (LWSWwOP...lihwuhswahp? no, that won't work)

Some Things Worth Talking About for the week of April 29-May 6

HOOKhausen might be a pairing and I am incredibly here for it. HOOK, that handsome cold-hearted devil, has gotten himself over as a second generation talent, a good looking kid, and the spitting image of Little Mac from the NES Punch-Out game. It seems like he either doesn't have a talent on the mike, or he hasn't needed to develop it because of the way his character has been introduced. The teased pairing of him with internet darling Danhausen has a lot of people talking, which works because the Danhausen character in AEW has been exclusively a fun guy on the mic who curses guys, due to his recent leg injury. 

I don't see them rushing this, but maybe by the time we're past Double or Nothing we'll have the dream team of Handsome Puncher and Funny Demon.

The WWE Tag Team Unification is off. I don't like it because we had a thing we were sold on, and they're now trying to say the six man tag team match at Backlash is better. I understand the draw of Roman and Drew, it just feels like every Monday Night Raw we get at least one of these sixers (Smackdown hasn't aired yet but I have suspicions we'll get another).

 A thing to consider is the upcoming schedule. Backlash isn't a major premium live event. I wouldn't even consider it a second tier event. Putting any kind of major title match on that level of show isn't in WWE's best interests. We have Hell in a Cell coming up in June, which you could see as a feud ender for the Usos and RK-Bro. There's Money In The Bank July 2nd, at the Allstate Arena, but that's a smaller venue and the ladder matches will obviously be the draw there. Then Summer Slam, obviously a big deal. 

Maybe the plan is to use the Backlash match to plant the seeds of Roman and Drew, and by Summer Slam McIntyre has earned his way into a championship match. The interesting thing to me is the next show, the recently announced Clash at the Castle in Cardiff. If they can keep this Reigns and McIntyre feud going that long, and maybe Drew loses because of shenanigans at SummerSlam. Drew McIntyre, the guy who kept them going during the COVID era, winning the championship in Wales could blow the roof off that place. If that place even has a roof; for all I know they're booking an actual castle.

Edge and AJ Styles certainly are doing a thing and there are SO MANY ways this can go. I enjoyed their Wrestlemania match, although it wasn't the show stopper many had it booked to be. Edge is great but it does feel like he succumbs to the older HHH formula of thinking a longer match is necessarily more epic and dramatic. Sometimes it's just longer and you look more tired out there. 

The blue light, the throne, adding Damian Priest as a sidekick - they all work for me. I don't think Priest is meant to be viewed as an equal here; maybe a passing of the torch deal. The caveat of Damian being banned from ringside for the Backlash rematch between Edge and AJ provides an interesting wrinkle. Given that we had Finn Balor make the save on Raw, and also given their Bullet Club history, it seems like they’re setting up some tag matches down the line for Edge and Priest and Balor / AJ. 

BUT! What if they swerve us? What if Damian Priest Does stay in the back, and Edge looks like he’s going to attack AJ after the match, and it’s Finn that turns on his old pal? We get the heel Finn persona that did really well in NXT, or maybe a new version of that which could incorporate the Demon. 

Or, what if we get some other people in the New Brood, or whatever they choose to call it. Ciampa is around, although he’s starting a thing with Mustafa Ali. Rhea Ripley’s name has also been thrown around, and even though she and Liv Morgan have unfinished business, she could easily be incorporated into that stable.

WHO’S TO SAY?

The Owen Hart Foundation Bracket has been finalized, and if I have the least bit of internet competency there’s a picture of it below:

I got this screengrab off Reddit

I can’t imagine any of these matches not delivering. I think Cole and Harwood have the most potential to be something special, but the complimentary styles of Hardy and Allin (oh my God I think I’ve been spelling that wrong) and the contradictory styles of Fenix and O’Reilly could also produce some interesting stuff. The wild card (pun intended) is that Joe vs Joker match. Joe can kill anybody and I’ll be entertained, but I wonder who they put in here?

AEW has a history of using those Joker spots in ladder matches to debut new talent, or to highlight returning stars. They have plenty of both available - Cesaro and Miro are two off the top of my head that I would absolutely love, and both would get the BIG MEATY MEN SLAPPIN’ MEAT label of excellence in a match with Samoa Joe. 

We’ll close out the week with some matches I highlighted throughout the shows, in case you didn’t get a chance to watch the stuff I did. If you have any that I missed, or any that you’d like the Pequeño-verse to know about, please pop them in the comments!

Matches of the Week!

On last week’s Rampage, Swerve Strickland and Darby Allin had a hell of a match, backed by years of working together in the Washington State area. Samoa Joe and Trent Barretta had a good one for the Ring of Honor Television Title as well.

Smackdown featured a cage match between Drew McIntyre and Sami Zayn, that was kind of a foregone conclusion but who doesn’t love a cage match?

RAW highlights included AJ Styles vs Damien Priest, a match that ended up barring Priest from ringside at this Sunday’s Backlash event. The six woman tag match to close the show was also a good time, with Asuka, Liv Morgan, and Bianca Belair going over Becky Lynch, Rhea Ripley, and Sonya Deville.

The NXT Beach Breakin’ Special gifted us their opening triple threat match for the North American Championship. Carmelo Hayes, Cameron Grimes, and especially Solo Sikoa gave their all in a match that the rest of the show didn’t have a chance to compete with. In fact, I think that will be our first ever Match of the Week!

Dynamite ended my wrestling week with Dante Martin and Rey Fenix showing why they are two of the best young talents in the company. Their qualifier for the Owen tournament was amazing. The Wardlow match against mystery opponent W. Morrissey was a fun short match that kept Wardlow’s momentum chugging.

So there you have it. The week that was, as remembered by your humble pal Oso Pequeño. I’ll be back Saturday with a Rampage recap, and Sunday I plan on writing a preview slash prediction post for Backlash. 

Don’t forget that the comments are down there if you have anything to say, even if you just wanna say hi. I don’t think we’re to the point where anybody is reading this yet, but if you discovered it I’m glad you’re here. Have a great week, friends!